Syndies: Sharon , Ellen on Top

After one week, Warner Bros.’ The Sharon Osbourne Show is one of only
two new first-run strips to outperform year-ago time periods on its stations,
averaging a 1.6 rating/5 share in the metered markets. That’s up 14% from last
year’s time-period averages and even with its lead-in share.

Warner Bros.’ other syndie offering, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was also up, averaging a 2.1/6 in the metered markets after two weeks in syndication.
That outpaces stations’ September 2002 time periods by 17%.

On Monday, the show hit its highest marks in the two-plus weeks it has been
on the air, scoring a 2.4/7 in the metered markets. Those numbers improved its
year-ago time period averages by 33% in rating and 17% in share, and bumped its
lead-in by 9%.

Conversely, this year’s four other rookie first-run strips so far are
performing on the down side.

King World Productions’ Living It Up! With Ali & Jack averaged a 1.3/5 in its first week, falling 28% from its year-ago time-period average and losing
two share points from its average lead-in.

After two weeks, NBC Enterprises’ Starting Over has a weighted metered-market average of 1.0/3 for its primary runs. That’s 29% off last year’s time-period average and down two share points from its average lead-in.

After 11 weeks, Twentieth Television’s Classmates, cleared in 25 metered markets,
was down 10% from stations’ average year-ago time-period performances and down
one share point from its lead-in, averaging a 1.8/5.

Twentieth’s Ambush Makeover, also after 11 weeks, slipped 11% from the
time-period average and lost one share from its lead-in with a 1.7/5 average.Ambush is cleared in 24 metered markets.

Among the four new off-net sitcoms, after one week, only Paramount Domestic Television’s The
Parkers was running ahead of its stations’ year-ago time-period performances,
averaging a 1.6/4. That’s up 7% year-to-year and even with its lead-in share.

Sony Pictures Television’s The King of Queens averaged a 2.1/4, down 16% from its year-ago
time-period average but in line with its lead-in share.

The premiere of Paramount’s Becker, at an average 1.1/3, was down 15%
from its September 2002 time-period average and even with its typical lead-in.

And Sony’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not averaged a 0.9/3, down 18% from
its time-period average and unchanged from its average lead-in share.